In a computing network and related systems, a blacklist can be used to list network locations that a website or web application is prevented from linking to or accessing. In exemplary situations, the website or web application can comprise references to other network locations, and a system can compare a uniform resource locator (URL), domain, or similar reference of the network locations to network locations on the blacklist. If the reference of the network location matches a network location on the blacklist, then the website or web application will be deemed to not comply with the blacklist and content from the network location will not be accessed via the network. Blacklisting can be useful for blocking access to network locations that are known to be malicious and/or unsecured, or that facilitate the installation or the spread of spyware, malware, viruses, and/or the like. Further, the blacklisting approach can protect networks from security breaches, hacks, network attacks, and/or the like.
Blacklisting, however, can be a tedious or even futile effort. In particular, every day new malicious or otherwise potentially harmful network locations appear that need to be included on a blacklist. A manager or overseer of the blacklist normally does not include a network location on the blacklist until the manager knows of the network location and/or knows that the network location belongs on the blacklist, which can take time. Therefore, the malicious website can pose a security concern because the network location can be accessed by or embedded in websites or web applications prior to the network location being added to the blacklist. Further, a blacklist that constantly updates with new malicious network locations not only will be infinitely large but will likely never be up to date with all current malicious sites.
A need, therefore, exists for a network administrator to allow websites and web applications to comprise references to only network locations that are known to be harmless or otherwise approved for access. Further, a need exists for a listing of network locations that is not exceedingly large or in need of constant updating.
It should be noted that some details of the drawings have been simplified and are drawn to facilitate understanding of the embodiments rather than to maintain strict structural accuracy, detail, and scale.